Las Casas and Cuguano Flashcards
Spanish Imperialism / Colonialism
Spain colonized the Americas through conquest & forced labor in early 1500s.
— La conquista
The “Encomienda” system
Spanish gave land to individuals who had the right to use indigenous labor.
Technically not slavery, but in practice, it was forced labor.
Encomienda holders were supposed to convert natives to Christianity.
Las Casas
- Participated in the Encomienda system
- 1514 → Had a change of heart, freed his natives, and became a defender of indigenous rights.
- 1542 New Laws (Charles V) → Banned slavery, but had little effect.
Valladolid debate: what it was about + 2 contracting views
Are the indigenous people naturally inferior and fit for slavery, or do they have rights?
Two sides:
Sepúlveda → Justifies slavery & conquest.
Bartolomé de las Casas → Defends indigenous rights.
Sepulveda’s arguments for supporting slavery:
- Some people are born to be slaves some are born to govern
- Indigenous people are savage and barbaric: deserve to be enslaved and ruled over.
- It was God’s choice, he decided that slavery was to happen.
Las Casas’ arguments for supporting indigenous rights
- Indigenous people have gov, laws and rationality = they are not natural slaves
- Because the rulers had to convert people into Christianity, Las Casas argues that conversion to Christianity does not require force.
- Calls for slavery to end.
- Imperialism is driven by economic gain, not morality.
Reparations (Sepulveda’s shift, De Vega and Las Casas)
- Believed that the conquest of the Americas was illegal, the Spaniards were uninvited.
- De Vega calls for reparations for the harm caused
- Las Casas : the past cannot be undone but Spain should return what it stole.
(Schliesser’s Analysis → Las Casas’ argument was a political compromise, as Spain lacked the power to fully control the conquistadors).
Slavery (features + justifications for it)
Features:
- Racialized slavery depends on social markers distinguishing slaves from free people.
- Requires state support for enforcing slavery.
- Needs legal structures to define relationships between slaves and masters.
- Relies on solidarity among slaveholders → Since slaves often outnumber their owners, slaveholding societies are vulnerable to rebellion.
Justifications
1. Aristotelian (Natural Inequality) → Some people are naturally slaves, and rulers have a right to dominate them (Sepúlveda’s argument).
- War Booty (Plato’s Just War Theory) → If a war is justified, then enslaving prisoners is better than killing them.
- Natural Necessity/Fate (Seneca’s View) → Slavery is bad, but necessary—who becomes a slave is just bad luck.
- Debt Slavery → A person becomes a slave to repay a debt (bonded labor).
- Slavery as Punishment → Some thinkers (More, Beccaria, Cugoano) argued criminals could be enslaved instead of imprisoned (modern prison labor follows this logic).
Ottobah Cugoano (life)
- Born in Ghana, enslaved at 13, and forced to work on a plantation in Grenada.
- Freed in England after the Somerset Case (1772), a landmark ruling by Lord Mansfield.
The Somerset Case (1772) - England
- Slavery was banned by Christianity (but GB abolished serfdom way later).
- Rumour spread that if you converted to Christianity you will be free (false).
- Some slaves were freed but their legal status remained unclear.
- Abolition of slaves took time to be fully established.
Natural rights vs slavery: Cugoano’s arguments
- EU slavery was unjustified (aggression).
- Slaveholders = criminals → “The worst kind of robbery” is enslaving others.
Arguments against slavery:
- All humans have natural rights → Life & liberty can never be taken away.
- Slavery violates universal human rights
— LATER: Locke’s philosophy → Natural rights cannot be alienated.
U.S. Declaration of Independence (1776) → “All men are created equal” with unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Cugoano: Natural vs human rights
Differences:
- Human rights cannot be lost when natural rights can.
- Human rights are universal. Natural rights need not be universal.
Penal slavery
- Type of slavery Cugoano accepts
-Supported penal slavery → Criminals and aggressors should be forced into labor as restitution for their victims.
Penal slavery had two purposes:
Repayment of damages (Biblical influence).
Moral reform (similar to Plato).
Penal slavery was seen as a more humane alternative to execution, as argued by Beccaria, Grouchy, and Thomas More.
Transformation in the 18th century:
- Slavery used to be based on religion (Christians vs. Muslims).
- The Atlantic slave trade made slavery racial → Africans were viewed as naturally inferior.
- Some Enlightenment thinkers (Hume, Jefferson, Hegel) were openly racist.
Cugoano rejected racist views:
Defended natural equality and used scripture to challenge slavery.
Opposed the false claim that Africans were the cursed descendants of Ham.
Not all racists supported slavery →
Hume (criticized for racism) still opposed slavery.
Herder criticized Kant’s racism.
Mercantilism: Cugoano’s Criticism of mercantile Political Economy
- Slavery as an Economic and Political Burden
Slavery is deeply embedded in the political and economic system.
Colonial empires are costly → They enrich a few but harm the overall economy.
Debt-financing of colonies wastes resources that could be used elsewhere (opportunity cost).
Creates a rent-seeking class → Wealthy elites control politics to extract profits without creating new wealth.
2. How the Slave Economy Fuels Corruption
Profiteers (plunderers) send wealth home → Invest it in banks and government bonds.
War and slavery lead to debt → The state borrows money while the wealthy profit from interest on loans.
Rich slaveholders gain political influence → They control government policies to protect their interests.
They avoid punishment → The system ensures that those benefiting from slavery stay in power.
3. Connection to Mercantilism
Mercantilism → The economic system where governments regulate trade to increase national wealth and power.
Slaveholders become an oligarchy → They control financial assets and use trade policies to expand slavery.
Mercantilism fuels war and exploitation, as noted by Adam Smith and Cugoano.
